Stephen L. Wasby papers, 1951-2021

The collection consists of the papers of political science professor Stephen L. Wasby. These papers relate to his research on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Court Judge Alfred T. Goodwin, and obscenity laws in Oregon in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Research materials relating to obscenity, most of which Wasby produced or compiled for his graduate thesis at the University of Oregon, include interviews, court case records, newspaper clippings and editorials, and state legislation. Materials in the collection relating to Alfred T. Goodwin include correspondence between Goodwin and Wasby; notes from conversations and interviews Wasby had with Goodwin; research on Goodwin's career in the Lane County Circuit Court, the Oregon Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court of Oregon, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; notes on Goodwin's diary entries; biographical research; and interviews with Goodwin's family members, friends, associates, clerks, and secretaries. A significant amount of the Ninth Circuit Court materials in the collection concern Wasby's research into immigration cases that the court heard. Other Ninth Circuit Court materials include interviews and correspondence with court judges and staff and research relating to judicial conferences, visiting judges, the role of communication in making decisions, inconsistencies within the court, judges' views on counsel performance, courthouse facilities, en banc (full bench) cases and procedures, and unpublished opinions. The collection also includes essays and published articles written by Wasby, as well as a copy of his book "Borrowed Judges: Visitors in the U.S. Courts of Appeals."